The Rugby Football League has been accused of "selling out" to Sky by allowing the half-time rant by the St Helens coach, Daniel Anderson, to be broadcast on Saturday night. Jon Wilkin, the Saints second-row, described the governing body's decision to allow cameras into the Old Trafford dressing rooms at the Super League grand final as "a complete and total joke" in his column on the BBC website.

"It is a farce that the RFL sell out to television and allow a camera to be in the dressing room," Wilkin wrote. "What goes on in there has nothing to do with anybody except the players and staff. Daniel's words and actions at half-time are for us, the players, not for public consumption. It is a privilege to be in the changing room and you should really have to earn that right."

Anderson, a softly-spoken Australian who has been regarded as one of the Super League's calmer coaches since he joined St Helens in 2005 - and certainly a less fiery character than Ian Millward, his predecessor who was paradoxically sacked partly because of a couple of foul-mouthed outbursts - was shown at length rebuking his players' first-half performance with language that was clearly industrial, even though Sky broadcast only the pictures and not the sound.

Anderson himself said last night that he "couldn't care less" about the coverage, as it simply showed him doing his job, which produced an immediate improvement from St Helens as they pulled level at 12-12 within three minutes of the restart. But Eamonn McManus, the St Helens chairman, endorsed Wilkin's sentiments, albeit in more restrained terms.

"I really do think that for 15 minutes before the match, and again at half-time, the dressing room should be sacrosanct," he said. "When I saw those pictures on Saturday night I knew it was going to cause a fuss. But all other coaches will react as Daniel did on the odd occasion when they need to get a response from their players, and if you ask any of the players, as I have, they will confirm that it worked, because we probably had our best 15 minutes of the match straight after half-time. That was what was called for after our first-half performance but it shouldn't change the way Daniel is remembered after his years with us, as a very composed and honest coach."

The RFL issued a statement in response to Wilkin's comments, stressing that there were no plans to clamp down on dressing-room cameras. "We respect Jon's right to voice his opinions, but cameras in the dressing room have been a feature of rugby league for several years, and we believe the policy of openness gives viewers extra insight into the game."